Malala gets IEBC’s nod to vie for Kakamega governor seat
Cleophas Malala has been cleared to vie for the Kakamega Governor seat in the August general election.
The Kakamega Senator received the green light from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) on Tuesday, June 7, 2022.
This comes amid claims that the legislator did not have the requisite academic qualifications.
Malala's bid opposed
A petitioner moved to court on Friday seeking to have the lawmaker barred from contesting in the August polls on grounds that his degree certificate is in dispute.
Fred Muka claimed that Malala never graduated with a degree from the United States International University Africa (USIU).
"While Malala alleges that he graduated in 2011, his degree certificate was printed and issued to him on August 10, 2019. This is eight years after the purported graduation yet ordinarily the date on a degree certificate is the day a person graduates from an institution, " Muka told the court.
He alleged that the graduation list of United States International University (USIU) for the year 2011 shows that Senator Malala did not feature among the graduands for Bachelor of Science in Information System and Technology nor did his name feature in the graduation list of 2019.
In his ruling, Justice Paul John Otieno, however, allowed the senator to present his papers at the Kakamega IEBC offices to comply with the timelines scheduled to clear him.
"This case has been transferred from Nairobi to this court and is urgent yet I understand the respondents were not served with the voter to get a chance to reply. I, therefore, order that they be served by today (Monday) 6 pm and the case he heard tomorrow (Tuesday)," the judge said.
